Senate urges minister to halt planned demolition of aviation agencies offices

The Senate has directed the Minister of Aviation, Alhaji Hadi Sirika to halt the planned demolition of aviation agencies headquarters offices in Lagos, pending the outcome of the intervention of its Committee on Aviation.

This followed the adoption of a motion titled “Urgent need of Senate’s intervention in the intending warning strike by Aviation Unions” by Sen. Biodun Olujimi (PDP-Ekiti) during plenary on Tuesday.

Moving the motion, Olujimi, also the Chairperson, Senate Committee on Aviation expressed worry with the rampant cases of strike by workers in the aviation industry.

She said that the strike usually had attendant disruption of flight operations, citizens’ movement, economic paralysis and grave security implications.

“The strikes have become too many and too frequent to be let low as issues in contention are not new.

“Some of the issues have lingered for over eight years with several agreements signed between the unions and the government.

“The issues bothered on non-implementation of the Consequential Adjustment to the National Minimum Wage by some of the agencies as agreed as at February 2022.

“There is also non release of reviewed Condition of Service by relevant government agencies for upward of a decade,” she said.

Olujimi added:”Continuous threats of outright demolition of the Aviation Agencies (FAAN, NCAA and NAMA Headquarters) in Lagos without making reasonable provisions for a befitting regional offices in Lagos being the nation’s aviation hub.”

She said that the committees in the Senate and House of Representatives were working to ensure amicable resolution of the crisis.

Sen. Sani Musa (APC-Niger) who supported the motion lamented that the aviation sector was in a state of decay.

He said that the level of decay of the airports since inception was as a result of poor leadership in the aviation sector.

“The operators have been left on their own in spite of the intervention funds that the federal government had been given to that sector.

“If you go to our airports, it does not translate that there is any support coming.

“Of course, the aviation workers will go on strike. Because it is only when the aviation industry is functioning very well, the operators are making it, that the welfare of those workers will also be taken care of.”

Also, the Deputy Chief Whip, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi (APC-Niger) said that the sector was too critical to be left without professional touch.

“One of the core constraint bedeviling that sector is the fact that professionalism has been compromised.

“Whatever we are going to do, we need to allow people who know the workings of that sector to be put in the right space so that they can do the work and put our aviation sector at per with international best practice,” he said.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, approved the single prayer of the motion.